2.The "Better" route, which is less travelled: It is NH6 which joins NH34 somewhere - Which I am totally ignorant about.

I would like to travel along the "Better" route.
Will it be possible for someone to point out what will be the exit point from the city and which are some of the important places that this route traverses through so that we can plan our travel.

Mausam is exactly right, you have to follow NH-2(Not NH-6)via Saktigarh, Panagarh you will reach Darjeeling More.From Bali bridge the road goes straight, cross the connection of NH-6 then straight to Durgapur Expressway.From Darjeeling More(around 160 km from Bali Bridge)you have to take right turn from that more,now you are on the Panagarh-Moregram State Highway.Just follow the road through Ilambazar, Suri, Rampurhat and you will reach near Farakka.Here the road meets with NH-34.

As far as I know, NH-34 was in shambles a few months ago, though some patch work has been done recently. Expect bad roads, average travelling time till Siliguri at night would be around 13-14 hours in a sedan/hatch, add at least 2-3 hours during daytime.

Originally Posted by sayakchakraborty...
Will it be possible for someone to point out what will be the exit point from the city and which are some of the important places that this route traverses through so that we can plan our travel.

Regards
Sayak

Hi Sayak,
I just came to know from your blog that you live in Lake Gardens. That way, the best exit point for you would be via Vidyasagar Setu and Kona Expressway. Take the flyover at the junction of NH2-NH6 and you are on NH-2, after that follow @soumiksett advice.

@Mods: Sorry for back to back posts, could not edit my previous post. If possible, please merge. Thanks.

Kolkat to Siliguri

I am planning to drive to Guwahati from Kolkata via Siliguri. I Have some apprehension regarding the road condition from Kolkata to Siliguri. Can anyone help me with some information of Kolkata-Siliguri present road condition. If I take this route where should I make the night stay. Malda/Siliguri or any other place in between.

Originally Posted by ajitbaruahI am planning to drive to Guwahati from Kolkata via Siliguri. I Have some apprehension regarding the road condition from Kolkata to Siliguri. Can anyone help me with some information of Kolkata-Siliguri present road condition. If I take this route where should I make the night stay. Malda/Siliguri or any other place in between.

~Khak~

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do....... Explore. Dream. Discover.

@ajit baruah: i suggest you to take a halt / night halt at siliguri. let us divide the whole route into two sections. the 1st section will be from kolkata to siliguri. basically there are two routes - 1. NH-34 & NH-31 through jessore road, barasat, krishnanagar, berhampur, farraka, malda, dalkhola, kishanganj, islampur, bagdogra, siliguri and, 2. NH-2,NH-60, NH-34 & NH-31, which i would suggest you to take as NH-34 is in pathetic condition. for the second route, start early say at 0600hrs., take an exit from kolkata either through vidyasagar setu & kona expressway to NH-2 or just after crossing the airport through jessore road, take the left turn through the fly over till you reach NH-2. from there go straight crossing bardhaman till Darjeeling More. you should reach there by 0830 hrs. have your breakfast there. then turn right, take NH-60, go through Siuri till you reach Moregram. this is the intersection point of NH-34 & NH-60 and lies in between Farraka and Berhampur. take a left turn from Moregram head towards Malda through Farraka. have your lunch at Malda as you will reach at 1300 hrs. from there reach Dalkhola through Raiganj. have evening snacks there. then turn towards right, onto the 4 lane NH-31 & proceed to siliguri. you should reach there by 1900hrs. for the 2nd section, people generally travels through state highway 12A through jalpaiguri, mainaguri, dhupguri to falakata. but i suggest you to proceed through NH-31 & NH-31C, i.e., through sevoke, nagrakata to birpara. this route has a lot of scenic beauty too, a few kilometres of the himalayan hills, tea gardens etc. from birpapra, turn right to falakata & go straight crossing coochbehar, boxirhat(assam), gauripur, bilasipara, chapar, till north salmara. this route will be NH-31. from north salmara, go straight for 1km only till you reach a junction called tulungiya. take a u-turn onto NH-37 and then straight drive for about 2.5 hrs to guwahati. remember to have your lunch at coochbehar. after that you won't find good restaurants until you approach guwahati.

@ pbharadwaja

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbharadwaja@ajit baruah: 2. NH-2,NH-60, NH-34 & NH-31, which i would suggest you to take as NH-34 is in pathetic condition. for the second route, start early say at 0600hrs., take an exit from kolkata either through vidyasagar setu & kona expressway to NH-2 or just after crossing the airport through jessore road, take the left turn through the fly over till you reach NH-2. from there go straight crossing bardhaman till Darjeeling More. you should reach there by 0830 hrs. have your breakfast there. then turn right, take NH-60, go through Siuri till you reach Moregram. this is the intersection point of NH-34 & NH-60 and lies in between Farraka and Berhampur.

According to your description, NH-60 starts from Darjeeling More, at Panagarh, and goes through Suri till Moregram.Here it meets with NH-34.

But as far as I know that NH-60 starts from Raniganj and goes through Bankura, Bishnupur, Garbeta, Chandrakona, Midnapur, Kharagpur, Belda, Jaleswar and ends at Balasore.

The road you have told that is not a National Highway rather it is a state highway (Panagarh-Moregram Highway).

@ soumiksett: NH-60 is from Balasore to Moregram through Raniganj. from Panagarh, one has to take SH-9, through Illambazar till it meets NH-60, about 30kms before reaching Siuri. from there it will lead you to Moregram. please let me know if i am wrong.

Originally Posted by pbharadwaja@ soumiksett: NH-60 is from Balasore to Moregram through Raniganj. from Panagarh, one has to take SH-9, through Illambazar till it meets NH-60, about 30kms before reaching Siuri. from there it will lead you to Moregram. please let me know if i am wrong.

Hi pbharadwaja,

You mean from Panagarh it is SH-9, and 30 km before of Suri again NH-60 connects and ends at Moregram.But I have checked in internet ,there NH-60 runs between Balasore and Raniganj.You can also check the same.So confused!!!

@ ajitbaruah
I took this road in the middle of January this year from Bally (near Kolkata) to Imphal (Manipur) travelling 1750 km in 3 days. As suggested in all previous posts, take Durgapur expressway and further up to Panagarh (Darjeeling more). Excellent road.
From panagarh NH-60 up to Nalhati road condition ok (up to seuri very good). From Nalhati to moregram Bad (deep craters). When you merge into NH34 at moregram, road condition is average thereafter up to Dalkola. From dalkola to siliguri NH31 is very good but not excellent. Unfinished patches and lack of maintenance of the road will keep you busy navigating potholes. If I can remember correctly a few speed breakers are in place on this patch of NH31 ( speed breaker on expressway!!).
From Jalpaiguri to Moynaguri road condition is extremely bad. This was the worst part of my journey. Full with lunar landscape like craters which can swallow any small hatchback. Umpteen no of scrapping the bottom of the car in this patch is a genuine possibility. After Coochbehar, road is average up to a few km before Gouripur border. Last few km till gouripur border is very bad. I read about horrible border traffic jam at gouripur but didnít see anything of that kind. Though choc-a-block border gate is a possibility but private and passenger cars enjoys some privilege and can cross it fairly easily. After crossing border to Assam, road is very good in till guwahati. Though the road from jogighopa to guwahati is undivided 2 lanes but surface is very good and speed up to 100kmph achievable. Road in assam will be cake walk and that in Bengal a mightmare. A word of caution : Traffic jam with miles of trucks standing motionless for hours on NH 34 from Farakka to dalkola and jalpaiguri to coochbehar is what I find the most agonising part of the journey. Millions of vehicles fighting for an inch of real estate on NH34 and 31. Road widening is on but bridges are not. It took more than 2 hrs each to cross farakka and jalpesh bridge. Donít know things have improved or not! Many suggest night driving a better option though not tried in this route.